Reporting accidents and incidents at work

A brief guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)

What is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR is the law that requires employers, and other people in control of work premises, to report and keep records of:

- work-related accidents which cause death;
- work-related accidents which cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries);
- diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases; and
- certain ‘dangerous occurrences’ (incidents with the potential to cause harm).

There are also special requirements for gas incidents (see ‘Reportable gas incidents’).

This leaflet aims to help employers and others with reporting duties under RIDDOR, to comply with RIDDOR and to understand reporting requirements.

RIDDOR 2013 Changes

From 1 October 2013, RIDDOR 2013 comes into force, which introduces significant changes to the existing reporting requirements. The main changes are to simplify the reporting requirements in the following areas:

- the classification of ‘major injuries’ to workers is being replaced with a shorter list of ‘specified injuries’;
- the previous list of 47 types of industrial disease is being replaced with eight categories of reportable work-related illness;
- fewer types of dangerous occurrence require reporting.

There are no significant changes to the reporting requirements for:

- fatal accidents;
- accidents to non-workers (members of the public);
- accidents which result in the incapacitation of a worker for more than seven days.

Recording requirements remain broadly unchanged, including the requirement to record accidents resulting in the incapacitation of a worker for more than three days.

Why report?

Reporting certain incidents is a legal requirement. The report informs the enforcing authorities (HSE, local authorities and the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR)) about deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, so they can identify where and how risks arise, and whether they need to be investigated. This allows the enforcing authorities to target their work and provide advice about how to avoid work-related deaths, injuries, ill health and accidental loss.

What must be reported?

Work-related accidents For the purposes of RIDDOR, an accident is a separate, identifiable, unintended incident that causes physical injury. This specifically includes acts of non-consensual violence to people at work.

Not all accidents need to be reported, a RIDDOR report is required only when:

- the accident is work-related; and
- it results in an injury of a type which is reportable (as listed under ‘Types of reportable injuries’).

When deciding if the accident that led to the death or injury is work-related, the key issues to consider are whether the accident was related to:

- the way the work was organised, carried out or supervised;
- any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used for work; and
- the condition of the site or premises where the accident happened.

If none of these factors are relevant to the incident, it is likely that a report will not be required.

See www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/do-i-need-to-report.htm for examples of incidents that do and do not have to be reported.

Types of reportable injury

Deaths All deaths to workers and non-workers must be reported if they arise from a work-related accident, including an act of physical violence to a worker. Suicides are not reportable, as the death does not result from a work-related accident.

Specified injuries to workers

- The list of ‘specified injuries’ in RIDDOR 2013 (regulation 4) includes:
  - a fracture, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes;
  - amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe;
  - permanent loss of sight or reduction of sight;
  - crush injuries leading to internal organ damage;
  - serious burns (covering more than 10% of the body, or damaging the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs);
  - scalplings (separation of skin from the head) which require hospital treatment;
  - unconsciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia;
  - any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space, which leads to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.

Over-seven-day injuries to workers This is where an employee, or self-employed person, is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than seven consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident). Injuries to non-workers

Work-related accidents involving members of the public or people who are not at work must be reported if a person is injured, and is taken from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury. There is no requirement to establish what hospital treatment was actually provided, and no need to report incidents where people are taken to hospital purely as a precaution when no injury is apparent.

If the accident occurred at a hospital, the report only needs to be made if the injury is a ‘specified injury’ (see above).

Reportable occupational diseases

Employers and self-employed people must report diagnoses of certain occupational diseases, where these are likely to have been caused or made worse by their work. These diseases include (regulations 8 and 9):

- carpal tunnel syndrome;
- severe cramp of the hand or forearm;
- occupational dermatitis;
- hand-arm vibration syndrome;
- occupational asthma;
- tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm;
- any occupational cancer;
- any disease attributed to an occupational exposure to a biological agent.

Reportable dangerous occurrences

Dangerous occurrences are certain, specified ‘near-miss’ events (incidents with the potential to cause harm.) Not all such events require reporting. There are 27 categories of dangerous occurrences that are relevant to most workplaces. For example:

- the collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment;
- plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines;
- explosions or fires causing work to be stopped for more than 24 hours.

Certain additional categories of dangerous occurrences apply to mines, quarries, offshore workplaces and certain transport systems (railways etc). For a full, detailed list, refer to the online guidance at: www.hse.gov.uk/riddor.

Reportable gas incidents

If you are a distributor, filler, importer or supplier of flammable gas and you learn, either directly or indirectly, that someone has died, lost consciousness, or been taken to hospital for treatment to an injury arising in connection with the gas you distributed, filled, imported or supplied, this can be reported online.

If you are a gas engineer registered with the Gas Safe Register, you must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that you consider to be dangerous to the extent that people could die, lose consciousness or require hospital treatment. This may be due to the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing, and could result in:

- an accidental leakage of gas; ■ inadequate combustion of gas; or ■ inadequate removal of products of the combustion of gas.

You can report online.

Exemptions

In general, reports are not required (regulation 14) for deaths and injuries that result from:

■ medical or dental treatment, or an examination carried out by, or under the supervision of, a doctor or registered dentist; ■ the duties carried out by a member of the armed forces while on duty; or ■ road traffic accidents, unless the accident involved:

- the loading or unloading of a vehicle;
- work alongside the road, eg construction or maintenance work;
- the escape of a substance being conveyed by the vehicle; or
- a train.

Recording requirements

Records of incidents covered by RIDDOR are also important. They ensure that you collect sufficient information to allow you to properly manage health and safety risks. This information is a valuable management tool that can be used as an aid to risk assessment, helping to develop solutions to potential risks. In this way, records also help to prevent injuries and ill health, and control costs from accidental loss.

You must keep a record of:

■ any accident, occupational disease or dangerous occurrence which requires reporting under RIDDOR; and ■ any other occupational accident causing injuries that result in a worker being away from work or incapacitated for more than three consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident but including any weekends or other rest days). You do not have to report over-three-day injuries, unless the incapacitation period goes on to exceed seven days.

If you are an employer who has to keep an accident book, the record you make in this will be enough.

You must produce RIDDOR records when asked by HSE, local authority or ORR inspectors.

How to report

Online Go to www.hse.gov.uk/riddor and complete the appropriate online report form. The form will then be submitted directly to the RIDDOR database. You will receive a copy for your records.

Telephone All incidents can be reported online but a telephone service remains for reporting fatal and specified injuries only. Call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm). Reporting out of hours

HSE has an out-of-hours duty officer. Circumstances where HSE may need to respond out of hours include:

- a work-related death or situation where there is a strong likelihood of death following an incident at, or connected with, work;
- a serious accident at a workplace so that HSE can gather details of physical evidence that would be lost with time; and
- following a major incident at a workplace where the severity of the incident, or the degree of public concern, requires an immediate public statement from either HSE or government ministers.

If you want to report less serious incidents out of normal working hours, you should complete an online form at www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/report.htm#online.

You can find more information about contacting HSE out of hours at www.hse.gov.uk/contact/outofhours.htm.

Industry-specific guidance

Accident book BL510 HSE Books 2012 ISBN 978 0 7176 6458 0 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/accident-book.htm

Incident reporting in schools (accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences) Education Information Sheet EDIS1(rev3) HSE Books 2013 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/edis1.htm

Reporting injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences in health and social care: Guidance for employers Health Services Information Sheet HSIS1(rev3) HSE Books 2013 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsis1.htm

Further information

For information about health and safety, or to report inconsistencies or inaccuracies in this guidance, visit www.hse.gov.uk/. You can view HSE guidance online and order priced publications from the website. HSE priced publications are also available from bookshops.

This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.

This leaflet is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.htm.

© Crown copyright If you wish to reuse this information visit www.hse.gov.uk/copyright.htm for details. First published 10/13.